The sermons of Stephen and the apostles in Acts
(excepting the farewell of Paul to the Ephesian Elders) are missionary
addresses to outsiders, with a view to convert them to the Christian
faith. The Epistles are addressed to baptized converts, and aim to
strengthen them in their faith, and, by brotherly instruction,
exhortation, rebuke, and consolation, to build up the church in all
Christian graces on the historical foundation of the teaching and
example of Christ. The prophets of the Old Testament delivered divine
oracles to the people; the apostles of the New Testament wrote letters
to the brethren, who shared with them the same faith and hope as
members of Christ.

The readers are supposed to be already "in
Christ," saved and sanctified "in Christ," and holding all their social
and domestic relations and discharging their duties "in Christ." They
are "grown together"11211121σύμφυτοι, Rom. 6:5; not "planted together" (as in the A. V. and the
Vulgate); the word being derived from φύω to cause to
grow, not from φυτευω, to
plant. with Christ, sharing in his death, burial, and
resurrection, and destined to reign and rule with him in glory forever.
On the basis of this new relation, constituted by a creative act of
divine grace, and sealed by baptism, they are warned against every sin
and exhorted to every virtue. Every departure from their profession and
calling implies double guilt and double danger of final ruin.

Occasions and calls for correspondence were
abundant, and increased with the spread of Christianity over the Roman
empire. The apostles could not be omnipresent and had to send
messengers and letters to distant churches. They probably wrote many
more letters than we possess, although we have good reason to suppose
that the most important and permanently valuable are preserved. A
former letter of Paul to the Corinthians is implied in 1 Cor. 5:9: "I wrote to you in my epistle;"11221122 The so-called Epistle of the
Corinthians to Paul and his answer, preserved in Armenian, are spurious
and worthless.
and traces of further correspondence are found in 1 Cor. 16:3; 2 Cor. 10:9; Eph. 3:3. The letter "from Laodicea," referred to
in Col.
4:16, is probably the
encyclical Epistle to the Ephesians.

The Epistles of the New Testament are without a
parallel in ancient literature, and yield in importance only to the
Gospels, which stand higher, as Christ himself rises above the
apostles. They are pastoral letters to congregations or individuals,
beginning with an inscription and salutation, consisting of doctrinal
expositions and practical exhortations and consolations, and concluding
with personal intelligence, greetings, and benediction. They presuppose
throughout the Gospel history, and often allude to the death and
resurrection of Christ as the foundation of the church and the
Christian hope. They were composed amidst incessant missionary labors
and cares, under trial and persecution, some of them from prison, and
yet they abound in joy and thanksgiving. They were mostly called forth
by special emergencies, yet they suit all occasions. Tracts for the
times, they are tracts for all times. Children of the fleeting moment,
they contain truths of infinite moment. They compress more ideas in
fewer words than any other writings, human or divine, excepting the
Gospels. They discuss the highest themes which can challenge an
immortal mind—God, Christ, and the Spirit, sin and
redemption, incarnation, atonement, regeneration, repentance, faith and
good works, holy living and dying, the conversion of the world, the
general judgment, eternal glory and bliss. And all this before humble
little societies of poor, uncultured artisans, freedmen and slaves! And
yet they are of more real and general value to the church than all the
systems of theology from Origen to Schleiermacher—yea,
than all the confessions of faith. For eighteen hundred years they have
nourished the faith of Christendom, and will continue to do so to the
end of time. This is the best evidence of their divine inspiration.

The Epistles are divided into
two groups, Catholic and Pauline. The first is more general; the second
bears the strong imprint of the intense personality of the Apostle of
the Gentiles.

1121σύμφυτοι, Rom. 6:5; not "planted together" (as in the A. V. and the
Vulgate); the word being derived from φύω to cause to
grow, not from φυτευω, to
plant.

1122 The so-called Epistle of the
Corinthians to Paul and his answer, preserved in Armenian, are spurious
and worthless.